Project Grant R01HL181489

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded $777,498 to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on September 1, 2026, under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) to conduct research on multiscale integration of mucin secretion and ion transport rates in asthmatic mucus plug formation and persistence.

The research tests the applicability of a biophysical paradigm called the "two-gel" paradigm to asthma pathogenesis, examining whether asthma mucus is hyperconcentrated rather than cross-linked and whether mucus transport can be accurately predicted by relative osmotic pressures between mucus and periciliary-glycocalyx gel layers. The work comprises four specific aims: determining whether mucus accumulation in asthma reflects mucus hyperconcentration-dependent increases in osmotic pressure, adhesion, and cohesion; testing whether mucus hyperconcentration-dependent ion transport abnormalities explain failed mucus clearance in asthma; validating the two-gel paradigm predictions in asthmatic mucus specimens; and developing a computational model integrating mucin secretion rates and ion transport kinetics to predict mucus plug formation. Performance of work occurs in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with an ultimate completion date of May 31, 2030.

The award is classified as a Project Grant, a standard NIH research assistance mechanism. UNC-Chapel Hill, operating through its Office of Sponsored Research, serves as the recipient. The university functions as a prime recipient of federal research funding across multiple NIH institutes, with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute among its largest funding sources.